Anonymous, or so I thought

In our hometown of Delmar, I was often teased by my husband when we were out, “do you know EVERYBODY?”

Of course I didn’t know everybody, but invariably I would see at least one friendly face and exchange a quick “Hi, how are ya?” in passing. As I have been wandering around my new neighborhood here in Birmingham, I feel rather anonymous. No one looks remotely familiar and there are no shouts of “Hi!” from across the street. While I may feel anonymous I just learned I am far from it.

Yesterday I stopped in at the school uniform shop to buy school clothes for my son. I enjoyed chatting with the clerks about their recent trips to America and whilst I was there I placed an order for a spring uniform dress for my younger daughter.

Today, I decided that I really should have ordered two if I don’t want to spend every evening doing laundry, so I gave a quick call to the shop. With my sales slip in hand I explained to the clerk what I wanted to do and then asked if she would like my order number. “Oh no, that’s not necessary, you wanted the dress for Broadmeadow, size eight I think?”

In a city of nearly 1 million residents and an additional 2 million commuting in each day, I managed to stand out in the crowd. It’s that accent. I may not know a soul, but I guess I’m not anonymous.

Leave a comment, I’d love to hear how you’ve met people in new places.

My father worked for IBM and also taught a navigation course and a Dale Carnegie course once a week. No matter where we went, he always met someone he knew. He would even take us to Mets games and would met someone he knew. One of our fondest memories of my dad.

“Alconbury Elementary School is part of the Isles District, which includes schools in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Bahrain, Belgium, and Germany. The school is located on R.A.F. Alconbury near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire in an area primarily of farming and light industry. Other towns close by are Cambridge, Peterborough and St. Ives. London is a 60-minute train ride south of Alconbury. Huntingdon has several historic connections. The most famous is Oliver Cromwell who was born and educated in the town. Later in his life he led his New Model Army against King Charles 1st in the English Civil War. Samuel Pepys, the famous English diarist, also attended school in Huntingdon.

Alconbury Middle/High School serves the tri-base area of RAF Alconbury, RAF Molesworth and RAF Upwood. The students at our school are the children of USAF Active Duty Military, DOD Civilian Employees and DOD contractors.